Brigham Young University
Faculty Center

Faculty Development Plan
School of Accountancy
2006

Part I - Self-Assessment

Strengths:

Teaching: I have a strong work ethic that allows me to accomplish my goals. My extensive professional experiences in audit as well as my advanced degree in Tax have developed a well-rounded foundation of accounting from many angles.  I am excited about many areas of accounting including audit, financial and taxation and use that excitement to encourage my students. I feel that my work experience really adds to the classroom experience as I have no shortage of real life situations to illustrate application of the material.  I believe this is appreciated by the students.  I really enjoy working with students and am thrilled when they are successful.

Citizenship: I serve on committees for admission to both the undergraduate and graduate accounting programs.  I am prepared for all meetings and work well with committee members.  I have recently been assigned to be the Professional Liaison for the School of Accountancy.  I have a unique perspective to bring to this assignment as I was a lead recruiter at BYU for PricewaterhouseCoopers for several years.  I believe that this background will be valuable as I work to develop relationships with the current recruiting teams and help to facilitate the recruiting process.

Areas I wish to develop:

Teaching: Based on my review of student evaluations, I feel that I must work harder to convey my concern for student learning and understanding of the material.   I need to be more aware of how I respond to student questions and comments to ensure that they do not feel uncomfortable in the classroom setting.

Citizenship: I am still learning my role in all my formal citizenship assignments.  I look forward to learning the requirements of the positions I have been assigned and serving the department.


Part II - Professional Goals and Plan

Teaching Goals/Plan:

  1. Revise ACC503 (Advanced Accounting for MAcc Tax students) to expand coverage of FAS109.  I will incorporate the study of more advanced financial topics as they relate to common, but complex, permanent and temporary book/tax differences.
  2. Show consistent improvement in instructor evaluations for courses taught over time. (ACC 406, ACC 440, ACC 503)
  3. Develop an online presentation on Materiality and Tolerable Misstatement for use in ACC406.
  4. Develop an online presentation on Multiple Diluted EPS for use in ACC440.
  5. Observe ACC440 (XXX)
  6. Attend appropriate training sessions to stay current on tax and financial issues in the profession:
    1. FAS 123R seminar by PwC in January 2006
    2. FAS 109 Proposed Interpretation web-cast by XXX January 2006
    3. PwC University – Summer 2006
  7. Attend Faculty Center Seminars (Fall 2005 series, Spring 2006 seminar) and complete all seminar assignments.
  8. Use resources at the Faculty Center where appropriate (improve exams and quizzes)
  9. Have three class sessions reviewed by other colleagues (one each in ACC406, ACC440, ACC503).

Citizenship Goals/Plan:

  1. Work cooperatively with the Accounting Junior core faculty to revise/update the schedule, approach and content of ACC406 (Audit) during the summer of 2006.
  2. Work with the other members of the admissions committee during the spring of 2006 to understand admissions criteria and make admissions decisions.
  3. Professional Liaison.
  4. Lund Endowment Committee

I will spend most Monday evenings and Saturdays and Sundays at home with my family. In addition, I will take time to fulfill church callings (Primary 1st Counselor) by attending other meetings as necessary. I will fulfill my department, college, and academic responsibilities by scheduling around my teaching activities.


Part III - Relationship Between Goals and University Aspirations, Needs

Teaching: I believe that my teaching goals are consistent with those of the university. I wish to motivate students by my example and active learning and impress on them the responsibility for life-long learning.  I feel that by working to create a safe learning environment, I can help to generate a love for learning.

Citizenship: As a professional faculty member it is my understanding that my citizenship expectations may be slightly higher than those for new professorial faculty, yet still somewhat less than what is expected of CFS faculty.  I am a willing participant in all of my committee assignments and am committed to the School of Accountancy team.  As a result, I believe that my citizenship goals are in line with the needs of the university.

Part IV – Resources Needed to Accomplish the Professional Goals

Resource Needs: I need to consistently teach the same set of classes in order to improve in the classroom. I also need funding for books, membership dues, software, hardware, travel to professional meetings, graders and teaching assistants (as needed). I currently feel that my needs are being met by the department.  Additionally, I look forward to using the Faculty Development Center where appropriate to improve my teaching skills and the learning tools I use in the classroom. 

Part V – Activities and Accomplishments in Achieving Goals

Teaching: I have spent a considerable amount of time working to improve my teaching and facilitation of student learning over the past year. The result was a significant increase in my instructor rating from Fall to Winter with respect to Accounting 503 (the only course I repeated). I believe the activities and goals outlined above will continue this trend. I feel confident that I can continue to develop into a more effective teacher.   With regard to the specific teaching goals listed above I have done the following (see notes in italics below):

Teaching Goals/Plan:

  1. Revise ACC503 (Advanced Accounting for MAcc Tax students) to expand coverage of FAS109.  I will incorporate the study of more advanced financial topics as they relate to common, but complex, permanent and temporary book/tax differences.  I began this process in the winter 2006 semester and will continue to revise this course and the related learning materials over the summer. I believe the changes were well received by the students as evidenced by a marked increase in classroom engagement during winter as compared to fall.
  2. Show consistent improvement in instructor evaluations for courses taught over time. (ACC 406, ACC 440, ACC 503) Instructor evaluations for ACC503 increased from fall to winter.  This is the only course that I have repeated thus far.
  3. Develop an online presentation on Materiality and Tolerable Misstatement for use in ACC406.  I have discussed this idea with the ACC406 lead instructor and it was well received.  I will work on this during the summer 2006 term as I do not have a teaching assignment then.
  4. Develop an online presentation on Multiple Diluted EPS for use in ACC440.  This was developed during the winter 2006 offering of ACC440 and was well received by the students.  I would like to refine this presentation during the summer 2006 term.
  5. Observe ACC440 (XXX) I attended nearly every class session of ACC440 taught by XXX during Winter 2006.  I learned a lot in his classroom regarding new approaches to presentation of the material.  I was able to implement several of his ideas in my own section of the course and feel that this was a valuable experience.  
  6. Attend appropriate training sessions to stay current on tax and financial issues in the profession:
    1. FAS 123R seminar by PwC in January 2006  attended
    2. FAS 109 Proposed Interpretation web-cast by XXX January 2006  attended
    3. PwC University – Summer 2006  scheduled to attend
  7. Attend Faculty Center Seminars (Fall 2005 series, Spring 2006 seminar) and complete all seminar assignments.  I have attended these seminars and have completed the assignments other than the follow up to the projects that will be done in Spring of 2007.  This has been a great experience for me.
  8. Use resources at the Faculty Center where appropriate (improve exams and quizzes).  I have met with XXX to review two exams for ACC440.  I have made several modifications to those exams based on our discussion and am looking forward to using them again.  Additionally, I have met with XXX to review teaching evaluations from last year.  We have identified areas to work on and I will likely be using the SCOT services to help improve my classroom skills.  These sessions have been informative and helpful and I will not hesitate to use the faculty center in the future.
  9. Have three class sessions reviewed by other colleagues (one each in ACC406, ACC440, ACC503).  I have spoken to all those listed here and they have all agreed to help.  Additionally, I have asked XXX to attend my ACC440 course and he, too, has agreed to help.  I am looking forward to the feedback from these faculty members as they are all considered excellent teachers.

Citizenship: I have done my best to get to know the faculty and be a good citizen.  I have attended several informal lunch gatherings and have offered my help when appropriate.  I feel that I am perceived as a “team player” in the department.  With regard to the specific citizenship goals listed above I have done the following (see notes in italics below):

Citizenship Goals/Plan:

  1. Work cooperatively with the Accounting Junior core faculty to revise/update the schedule, approach and content of ACC406 (Audit) during the summer of 2006. planned for summer of 2006
  2. Work with the other members of the admissions committee during the spring of 2006 to understand admissions criteria and make admissions decisions.  I have attended the first of two meetings for the admissions committee and feel that I made a meaningful contribution to the process.  I also volunteered to sit through a “dry run” of the meeting to help ensure that the technology was working properly and that the committee members would have the information necessary to be efficient during the actual meeting.
  3. Professional Liaison (XXX) I am working with XXX now and we will continue to work through the summer to transition the Professional Liaison work from him to me.  Our goal is to make a smooth transition that is seamless to the recruiters that come to campus.
  4. Lund Endowment Committee  This is a new assignment, and is one that I am still learning about.


Part VI – Measures Used to Assess Success

I want to be considered an excellent teacher. I want to be an example to my students and give them an appreciation for and excitement about their chosen profession. I will look to student and peer evaluations, as well as SCOT feedback, to measure success in this area. 

I want to be considered a good citizen by everyone I come in contact with.  As this relates to my role at the university, I will look to my department head and firm professionals for feedback and measurement of success in this area.